{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T22:14:18Z","timestamp":1766182458396,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,6]],"date-time":"2025-02-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1738800000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Narayana Netralaya Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: refractive surgery, such as LASIK and SMILE, induces a wound healing response that leads to significant corneal stromal remodeling. We have shown that the protein profile in the stroma changes dramatically immediately post-surgery. However, the methylation status of the DNA post-refractive surgery remains unknown. Design\/Participants: DNA methylation study. Refractive surgery (SMILE\/LASIK) performed on donor eye globes. Method: we investigated the epigenetic changes post-surgery in relation to long term ECM remodeling in an experimental ex vivo study design. Donor globes (n = 19) were obtained from the eye bank. Three globes served as non-surgical controls while SMILE (-6DS) and LASIK surgery (-6DS) were performed on eight globes each and incubated for 3 days and 2 weeks (n = 4 per group per time point). Here, we compared the DNA methylation landscapes of LASIK and SMILE stroma using the Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 850 EPIC array (HM850). Results: significant changes in DNA methylation patterns were observed post-operatively in both LASIK and SMILE groups. Specific genes involved in the activation of actin cytoskeleton and inflammation (smad3, prkca and ssh2) showed hypomethylation in LASIK after 2 weeks and LASIK SMILE after 3 days, respectively, suggesting their active role in corneal repair. The genes (gaa, gstm1, mgat1, galnt9 and galnt5) involved in sphingolipid metabolism and mucin biosynthesis showed hypomethylation in SMILE after 3 days. Conclusions: our results suggest that altered DNA methylation patterns may have relevance to the development of complications of haze post-refractive surgery. It also presents the opportunity to utilize drugs that regulate chromatin remodeling for optimal outcomes.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life15020246","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,6]],"date-time":"2025-02-06T04:47:31Z","timestamp":1738817251000},"page":"246","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Epigenetic Modulation Directs Recovery Post LASIK and SMILE Surgery: An Experimental Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Rohit","family":"Shetty","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Cornea and Refractive Services, Narayana Nethralaya, Bangalore 560010, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pooja","family":"Khamar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cornea and Refractive Services, Narayana Nethralaya, Bangalore 560010, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ramaraj","family":"Kannan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GROW Research Laboratory, Narayana Netralaya Foundation, Bangalore 560099, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Puja","family":"Thacker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GROW Research Laboratory, Narayana Netralaya Foundation, Bangalore 560099, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-2750-2617","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nimisha Rajiv","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GROW Research Laboratory, Narayana Netralaya Foundation, Bangalore 560099, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6570-5891","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arkasubhra","family":"Ghosh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GROW Research Laboratory, Narayana Netralaya Foundation, Bangalore 560099, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6758-6091","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vrushali","family":"Deshpande","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GROW Research Laboratory, Narayana Netralaya Foundation, Bangalore 560099, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alkozi, H.A., Franco, R., and Pintor, J.J. 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